This content might be obsolete as the page was archived following deprecation of the concept of FINOS Programs in early 2020. For the latest on FINOS Community Governance check the FINOS Community Github Repository. |
The FINOS governance is defined by two publicly available related policies:
The Program Governance Policy (PGP), which defines the responsibilities of the board with respect to Programs, as well as several universal responsibilities that all Programs have.
A Program Operations Policy (POP), a per-Program document that defines the specific operating mechanisms within that Program. While prospective Programs are entitled to propose amendments for the Board to approve during the /wiki/spaces/FINOS/pages/90472616, programs are encouraged to use the FINOS provided Standard POP,
Both documents are intended to provide an applied framework that ensures the key guiding principles of the community are met:
If the bodies described here are unfamiliar to you, it may be worth reviewing the Foundation's structure first, to better understand the relationships and differences between "Programs", "Projects" and "Working Groups". |
Governance by Contribution is a principle that states that an organization or individual's influence within the Program should be proportional to the investment that organization or individual is making to support the Program’s mission. |
As mentioned above, the PGP defines several Foundation-wide responsibilities (PGP §III.A), including:
It is worth noting that most of these responsibilities don't impinge on the day-to-day operational activities of Projects and Working Groups - that level of governance is delegated to each Program.
As mandated by the PGP, all Programs must have a POP that is ratified by the board at the time the Program is approved. Typically this will be the Foundation's standard POP, but in rare circumstances there may be compelling reasons for a Program to instead propose an amended POP.
Operational governance within a Program is defined solely by the PGP and that Program's POP.
The standard POP defines a Program Management Committee (PMC), which provides governance for all of the Projects and Working Groups within that Program, whose activities are coordinated by a single PMC Lead (POP §II.B.a).
In the spirit of Governance by Contribution, membership on the PMC is determined automatically - it is comprised of the PMC Lead, plus the Project Lead and Working Group Chair of each Project and Working Group within that Program (POP §II.B.b).
The PMC has a number of core responsibilities (POP §II.A), including:
Furthermore, the PMC has a number of operational responsibilities that will typically be delegated down to individual Projects and Working Groups within the Program. These include:
All decisions made by the PMC use the Foundation's standard decision making process (POP §II.D).
Because amended POPs are unique, the content in this section and those that follow may not be relevant for Programs that are using an amended POP. Before participating in a Program, you should always check whether it has an amended POP, and if so, review it carefully to make sure you're comfortable with the changes it introduces. |
Although each Project Lead and Working Group Chair is automatically a PMC Member within their Program, active participation in the PMC is optional. PMC Members who don't wish to participate in the PMC's governance activities are entitled to sit them out (though doing so is discouraged). |
Each Project and Working Group has responsibility for the same common set of collaborative principles (POP §III):
The Foundation has infrastructure that can assist Projects and Working Groups to meet some of these obligations, especially those related to IP compliance. See the /wiki/spaces/FINOS/pages/93061236 for more information. |
Project teams are required to identify and maintain a single Project Lead at all times (POP §IV.A.a), who will sit on the Program's PMC and act as a liaison between the PMC and the rest of the Project team.
In addition to the common collaborative principles listed above (and any additional responsibilities delegated from the PMC), the POP defines a number of additional responsibilities for project teams (POP §IV.C), including:
How a Project team divides up these responsibilities is left up to the team. More generally, Project teams are largely self managing in terms of what is to be worked on, in what order, and how - none of this is dictated by the Board or PMC.
Working Groups are required to identify and maintain a single Working Group Chair at all times (POP §V.A.a), who will sit on the Program's PMC and act as a liaison between the PMC and the rest of the Working Group.
In addition to the common collaborative principles listed above (and any additional responsibilities delegated from the PMC), the POP defines the following additional responsibility of each Working Group (POP §V.C):
How a Working Group meets this responsibility is left up to the group. More generally, Working Groups are largely self managing in terms of what is to be worked on, in what order, and how - none of this is dictated by the Board or PMC.